I'm cold and i need help! dutch west 1500 stove not working right

[Chloe]

ok here goes:
bought new this past fall, a dutch west 1500 epa certifed high efficiency stove. pipe is double walled and all new except the external pipe which was cleaned before install and is also double walled. i dont have the footage, but the pipe is to code, standing higher than the roof. one 45degree in pipe, about 4' up from the stove. ALL UP TO CODE and WAS INSPECTED. INSTALLED BY PROFESSIONALS.
2 months of burning douglas fire and pine, we had a chimmeny fire. no damage. since the stove was installed, we have never gotten the fire above 500. (we have a thermometer in the pipe). the man who installed it came out after the fire, said we had an unusual amount of creostote build up in the pipe. way too much, hense the fire. why? and why can't we get the fire over 500? so after he cleaned the sote out, said he thought it was the gasket seal and adjusted the door. we built a fire the next day and it was cranking over 800- awesome, except every fire after that was less and less hot!! now it wont go over 500 again!! he came back out, checked the intake, said it was fine. checked the cap on the pipe, no sote there. now he wants us to use another wood too see if it's the wood we are burning......but we are using dried hardwood!
so can anyone help me on this one. i feel like we bought a lemon stove. we are going to get lodge pole pine for a fire tonight (most all use beetle kill up here in northern co). in the meantime- any wisdom???
oh, also, we do not live in an air tight house, PLENTY OF DRAFT HERE! old home in a mountain town so i dont think the stove is having much conpetition for draft.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It sounds like wet wood to me. i think you better get your chimney cleaned again.

Try a load of wood purchased at a grocery store or 7/11. You should not have enough creosote to start a fire after 2 months of burning. That only comes from incomplete combustion caused by green wood.

Assuming the door was not adjusted correctly and was letting in extra air would only cause the fire to burn hotter and out of control. The fire temps are being kept down by the water in the wood turning to steam and cooling down the burn.



Matt

 

[Chloe]

this wood was actually kiln dry, and it's kept undercover. its been dried for years. NONE of this makes sense. i'll post after our fire tonight, seeing if different wood works.

 

['bert]

+1 Matt is wise. When you have your fire go out and look what is coming out of the chimney. Unless it is really cold out you should only see a heat signature, no smoke. By cold I mean 10 below or less. Then you should only see steam. White wispy steam that dissipates quickly.

 

[DAKSY]

Your wood is TOO DRY!

(broken link removed to http://www.woodheat.org/tips/drywood.htm)

Your EPA rated stove is designed to burn wood that's about 20%
moisture content...Mix your kiln-dried stuff with some air dried
wood & see how she performs...

 

[Jfk4th]

Have the stove guy come and thoroughly inspect the inside of the stove. Or better yet have him start the fire, tell him to bring his own wood if he can and ask him nicely to stay until you are satisfied with the burn rate and temps, could be there for a while. Offer the guy some pizza or something. Just be straight and nice to this guy and tell him your concerns.

And last but not least you can call the company directly and tell them you are not getting any satisfaction from the local dealer, I would say this should be the final step as I am sure the local stove guy will not like being called by the stove company

I have burned Kiln dried wood and I will tell you this, it really rips in the stove , too much money for my liking but that would not explain why you can't get 500F, with Kiln dried wood it burns too hot in my book

 

[Hanko]

Have the stove guy come and thoroughly inspect the inside of the stove. Or better yet have him start the fire, tell him to bring his own wood if he can and ask him nicely to stay until you are satisfied with the burn rate and temps, could be there for a while. Offer the guy some pizza or something. Just be straight and nice to this guy and tell him your concerns.

And last but not least you can call the company directly and tell them you are not getting any satisfaction from the local dealer, I would say this should be the final step as I am sure the local stove guy will not like being called by the stove company

I have burned Kiln dried wood and I will tell you this, it really rips in the stove , too much for my liking but that would not explain why you can't get 500F, with Kiln dried wood it burns too hot in my book

you cant 500, but it burns to hot????? which is it?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

JFK was not the OP.

Matt

 

[Jfk4th]

Have the stove guy come and thoroughly inspect the inside of the stove. Or better yet have him start the fire, tell him to bring his own wood if he can and ask him nicely to stay until you are satisfied with the burn rate and temps, could be there for a while. Offer the guy some pizza or something. Just be straight and nice to this guy and tell him your concerns.

And last but not least you can call the company directly and tell them you are not getting any satisfaction from the local dealer, I would say this should be the final step as I am sure the local stove guy will not like being called by the stove company

I have burned Kiln dried wood and I will tell you this, it really rips in the stove , too much for my liking but that would not explain why you can't get 500F, with Kiln dried wood it burns too hot in my book

you cant 500, but it burns to hot????? which is it?

Hanko,
I can hit 500F quite easily, even with my eyes closed , but Chloe is having problems. With kiln dried wood, the moisture would be around 10-15%, maybe even less, so hitting 500F should be no problem in a smaller stove like the 1500. It must be something else, that's why I think the stove shop guy should come and start the fire and load some splits and see what temps he can get for Chloe. If there are problems he will see it firsthand

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Chloe,

You said that the chimney goes up through the roof but you don't know how high it is. Does it go one story up? Two? Is the pitch steep on the roof or is it almost flat?

Matt

 

[Chloe]

The overall lenght of the pipe is around 16 feet, and the roof is steep (7/12 pitch). Also, we live down a little hillside. The termination of the pipe is probably only 6-10 feet over street level. Do you think adding another length would help the draft?

 

[Chloe]

We burned beetle kill the other night, same temps. I think it's the draft. the house is located on a down hill and perhaps an other 4' of pipe will help pick up a better draft. we will see, thats for all the posts if it works, i'll fill you all in.